Mark V Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Have you ever done a gig carrying an injury of some kind?I've done a couple feeling sick but not with an injury.Last year our bass player sliced his finger cutting up some meat.{ah no we've never been vegetarians}Anyway it didn't seem too serious at the time but at the end of the gig that night his fretboard was Red with blood.Is that dedication or stupidity?Sure as hell impressed the punters. I once had a quasi-religious experience..then I realised I'd turned up the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Nope, never done a gig, but I certainly wouldn't do one if I was injured, at least on a part of me that I would be using that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by markvincent: [b]Have you ever done a gig carrying an injury of some kind?[/b][/quote]Oh, yeah, several times. I've played with a cut finger, like your bass player, and gotten blood all over my guitar at least twice. In fact, I've injured myself [i]while[/i] playing! And my guitar, too. :( I'll do whatever seems fun or necessary, at the time, to make the performance even more exciting, short of injuring [i]other[/i] people. ;) Of course, self-injury is never my [i]intention[/i]; it's just a result of living in the moment while onstage. :freak: https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHAN Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 The show MUST go on!!!!!!!!!!!! ...ya know...or not. Whatever So Many Drummers. So Little Time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZsound Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Playing injured? You bet. The first thing you find out when you are a road horse is you can't call in sick. From 75 to 80 I was in a six piece show band that lived on the road. 26 weeks on, two weeks off for five years. I cracked three ribs water skiing in Lake Shasta, California on a Saturday afternoon. I played that night and every night thereafter..and I play sax. When we got to our next three week gig I got to a local doctor and he said to go home and rest for six weeks..I requested lots of pain killers. I have played with sprained ankles, I cut my head open on the edge of the mixer one night and continued playing with a big diaper on my head, I have had a 103 degree temperature and played. The biggie is having a stroke playing my alto sax during the first song of a three hour set fourteen years ago. I fell down and lay on the floor while the band kept going. I eventually climbed up my keyboard stand and just kept playing even though I could hardly breath. I couldn't sing or play my horns but I made it through the night. The next morning I hit the emergency room, got a CT scan and found out I had a stroke. I'm better now.. The really funny thing is we were playing for about three hundred doctors.. I talked to one on a break and he told me to get to a hospital immediately but all my professional life I have been trained to play regardless of how I feel. I grew up playing concerts for 8,000 to 10,000 people and you just don't casually call in sick. And the audience simply doesn't care how you feel so do your best. Mark G. "A man may fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame others" -- John Burroughs "I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man." -- Thomas Jefferson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by KHAN: [b]The show MUST go on!!!!!!!!!!!! ...ya know...or not. Whatever[/b][/quote]well,I couldn't very well tell everyone the tour is cancelled in the middle of everything,that is if I still wanted to have any friends left or even a gig waiting for me. :D ,yeah,tried to yank a broken string off my Martin mid-song and sliced 4 fingers(plaing hand),blood all over,played the tour out,still had friends and a great gig for years to come after that,but if I didn't pull the Shwartznegger/Stallone/Willis act,who knows? "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBBPaul Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 If I can get up, I can play. I tore all of the tendons in my right thumb a few years ago. They had to rebuild the tendons with grafts from my arm. I had to get a replacement for a couple of gigs while I was in the cast but as soon as it came off, I played. I had pins sticking out of my hand all over the place but if I can hold a pick, I can do it. I've also played with sprained ankles, cuts etc... and had plenty of blood on my guitar but it washes off. One year I sprained a muscle in my throat which caused my vocal range to be cut to about a third of normal. We just re-keyed the tunes or I sang an octave lower. The shows went on. Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K. Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 I play frequently with injuries. I'm such a clutz anyway! Usually only blood, but I did have to play with a broken finger for a couple of weeks. Thankfully it was on my left hand and not vital. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve LeBlanc Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 I did a couple of weddings looking like this (with a modified Tux of course): [img]http://www.jamfree.com/images/youngstephen/wheelchairjam_1987.jpg[/img] I've played with cuts and or played until my fingers were bleeding many times...especially when I was first starting on the bass guitar...my bass used to be covered in blood often. I really make it a point to keep my callouses up these days. oh and I haven't been in a major car wreck since I was 15...knock on wood. :D BUT the worst gig I ever did was when I had a bad case of food poisoning and played in front of about 16,000 people with a roll of toilet paper stuff in my shorts...yikes!!! :) http://www.youtube.com/notesleb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pierce Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Well I did a coupla gigs in the 80s when my back was in [b]really[/b] bad shape. I had to have the band haul and setup my gear, and I was really struggling to find non-excruciating playing positions. Back then I smoked a lot of dope. That either helped or made it worse. Not sure which. ;) I sometimes get tendinitis in my forearms pretty bad. That can make it tough to keep playing, but so far I've been able to manage. (I play keys, BTW.) --Dave Make my funk the P-funk. I wants to get funked up. My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy clay Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Well, I've had some injuries I couldn't play through. Broke my collarbone and my right arm was in a sling. Couldn't lift anything or fret my bass. Then I broke my right wrist, it was out of commission for 8 weeks, couldn't fret my bass then either. My collarbone still bothers me after 3+ years, the bass strap just lands right on the spot, and after a couple of sets, OUCH! :eek: Hey, maybe I should start playing a URB :confused: I'm trying to think but nuthin' happens.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeton Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 [b]BUT the worst gig I ever did was when I had a bad case of food poisoning and played in front of about 16,000 people with a roll of toilet paper stuff in my shorts...yikes!!! [Smile] [/b] Awww c'mon... i thought everyone stuffed thier shorts before they went onstage Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 In May of 1994, in a head-first dive into third base upon impact while grabbing the staked in bag, I ripped my left arm 3.5 inches out of the socket, split the sheath of the bicep from the inside out whith the head of the upper-arm bone causing it to dent and fracture, ruptured 20% of the bicep tendon, and had it spring back so the arm was dislocated over my left chest wall under me. I had lost circulation in that arm for 15 minutes causing it to turn blue until I could move it enough to get some flow through the brachial artery which was being pinched off. they put it back in without anesthesia 3 hours later. That was on a Tuesday. On Sunday, I played the 12-string with lots of barre chords as promised for my church service. Does that count? :eek: The first surgery finally came about a year later and the second was 2 years after that. Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnb Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 We must be nuts with this "the show must go on" business. In my saner moments I say no way, get a sub, but I have never missed a gig because of illness or injury. 104 degree temperature in Chicago, 103 while on a cruise ship. Food poisoning, the flu, broken ribs, death in the family, the shits, long parades on torn ligiments in my ankle (not my choice, I was in the army), etc. Yeah, we are nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Bleeding fingers & stuff is the norm for me & I've played with sprains & a bad back. Probably the biggest thing is playing with my left arm in a protective sleeve after surgery that removed a cancerous tumour caused by the myeloma I have & just before starting the chemo. That was kind of tough but it was worth it. I just clamped the hand on the neck & played the upper frets. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark V Posted February 8, 2003 Author Share Posted February 8, 2003 Belated thanks for some interesting stories,sorry about the occasional sniggering. I once had a quasi-religious experience..then I realised I'd turned up the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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